The Hospital

THE ROOM

We are on the 20th floor of the hospital. Our room is very nice. It is more like a hotel room than a hospital. The floors are wood which gives the room a warm and homey feel. One whole wall of the room is all glass. It is a huge glass window that allows sunshine to come in. Looking out our window we see lots of buildings, apartments and just below us a big garden with all sorts of vegetables growing. We have a tiny table, two chairs, a big tv, a dvd player, a refrigerator, a closet, and water cooler.

THE STAFF

The staff consists of patient representatives, and drivers. The patient representatives do the translating for the patients and doctors. They also take care of any needs we may have. The three we have met are Lucy, Johnny, and Luca. They are all very nice. Lucy is the one we have seen around the most. Lucy and Johnny are both Chinese. Luca is Italian.

THE DOCTORS & NURSES

The doctors here are very good. They are quite thorough. I guess I had kind of expected that we would get here and they would start giving her stem cell treatments. That isn't the case at all. They do a lot of tests and evaluations so that they become much more familiar with the patient before they do any of the treatments. They are going to do an x-ray on Sierra sometime to take a look at her lungs and spine. Because her spine is curved, they are not sure if they will be able to do the lumbar puncture or not. If I understood correctly they were saying that it may not be as effective to do the lumbar puncture because of the curved spine. The doctors are going to have a meeting to discuss things after they get all the test results. Most of the doctors do not speak English.

The nurses are also very good. They are very caring. They took some blood from Sierra today for tests. They were able to get it right away. I was very happy that I did not have to watch them prick her several different times. Most of the nurses understand English and can speak a few words.

THE THERAPIST

Kerri is Sierra's therapist. We are very pleased with her. You can tell that she really loves the children that she works with. Today she was working on teaching Sierra how to roll over. Sierra will be receiving 2-3 types of therapy every day for 5 days out of the week.

THE FOOD

In China, food is not served to patients in the hospital. They have a little kitchen area here where we can cook things in the microwave or on a hot plate. They also have a menu that we can use to order from a local restaurant. There is no fee for delivery and the food is very inexpensive. Jason and I ate lunch for about $1.50 for the both of us.


THE PATIENTS

It has been so much fun meeting all the other families that are here. It is also very encouraging! There are people here from around the world. There are people here for a variety of reasons.

There are two adults with MS. I was talking to the family member of one of them. He was having problems with incontinence and having to go to the bathroom 5 or 6 times a night. Now, he is able to sleep 8 hours straight!

There are several children with cerebral palsy. One of them is here for the second time. After his first time here, he stopped throwing up (he used to throw up several times a day) and he went from eating mush to eating stuff like nachos. Another little girl has gained better head control and is now able to drink out of a straw.

There is a little boy with autism. He is 5 1/2. His mom said that she has been working for three years at showing him pictures from a book and then asking him to say the words (i.e. showing him a picture of a car and asking him what it was). He was never able to. During his time here, he started doing it! She was so thrilled that she said, "Even if that is the only improvement, it was worth it!"

STEM CELL TREATMENTS

As I said above, Sierra may not be able to get lumbar punctures. We trust the doctor's decision. If she is not able to have the lumbar punctures, she will get all IVs. Her first treatment will probably be on Monday.


Thank you for all your prayers. We covet your prayers all the time.

Posted from Hangzhou at 1:10 PM, April 10